The 7th IODE International Coastal Atlas Network Project Workshop (ICAN 7) was held at the Protea Hotel Breakwater Lodge in Cape Town, South Africa from 19-20 April 2015, in advance of CoastGIS 2015. The theme of ICAN 7 was Coastal Web Atlases - Supporting Ecosystem Based Management.

The objective of ICAN7 covered the following items:

Exploring the opportunities for CWAs to support the objectives of managing and protecting LMEs

Discussing the challenges of atlas development and usage in the African Coastal Atlas community

A session on “Interoperability for Dummies” which aims to demystify coastal atlas interoperability and highlight the benefits of interoperability

A small “workshop within a workshop” for atlas technical developers on how to become a new node in the ICAN interoperability demonstrator, using the updated cookbooks

A small "workshop within a workshop" on data accessibility, self-assessment and interacting with users, including a progress update on the user handbook

Review of communication activities within ICAN

Face-to-face meeting of the ICAN Steering Group

Key achievements since ICAN6

Since March 2013, ICAN is an official Project of the International Oceanographic Data & Information Exchange (IODE) programme of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC). This workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss how coastal web atlases (CWA) can assist in implementing ecosystem based management approaches.

This is particularly pertinent as the African continent is surrounded by five Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs) (the Agulhas and Somali Current, the Benguela Current, the Canary Current, the Mediterranean Current, the Guinea Current) all requiring sustainable management and protection. As this is the first time the workshop is being held in Africa, it is a great opportunity to hear about developments from the ODINAFRICA Coastal and Marine Atlas community.

This workshop follows the successful ICAN6 workshop: “Expanding Participation in Coastal Web Atlas Development and Use”, held at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, in 2013; as well as five previous workshops held in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011.

Join us in Santa Marta, Colombia!

The ICAN 8 workshop: Coastal Web Atlases – Enhancing Ocean Literacy, Santa Marta, Colombia, 11-12 September 2017 will explore how a coastal web atlas (CWA) can contribute to and support ocean literacy initiatives and will examine the role of CWAs in advancing ocean literacy with different audiences. Ocean literacy is the understanding of the ocean's influence on you and your influence on the ocean